What a Lovely Way to Burn
by Scrub
Summary: DMHG. A typical Head BoyHead Girl story. Hermione can't seem to understand the constant stare of Draco Malfoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I'm only going to do one for this story, so listen up. You all know the drill.. All I own is the plot. JK owns the characters, setting, and all that jazz.

**A/N:** The title is part of the song 'Fever' sung by Michael Buble. It probably won't have anything to do with the story, but I like how it sounds. Enjoy!

**What A Lovely Way To Burn – Chapter 1**

Hermione's eyes scanned the small train cabin. She savored the sweet scent of candy that awakened her from her short nap. Her head was rested against the shoulder of her best friend Harry, who was avidly discussing Quidditch with their best mate Ron who sat across from them. She straightened herself from her comfortable position as the Golden Trio heard a violent rap at the door of the compartment. It was none other than Pansy Parkinson who stood with an agitated slouch.

"What do you want, Parkinson?" The redheaded boy asked, uninterestedly. He sat up, looking as gangly as ever.

"You better watch yourself, Weasel." She retorted, "I was sent to fetch Granger." Pansy nodded toward Hermione, who looked away from the window where she was watching raindrops race down the paneled glass. Pansy continued, "She's needed in the Head's compartment. McGonagall needs to speak with her."

Hermione stood and left the minute compartment, but not after bidding goodbye to her two best friends. "I'll see you at the feast." She promised them. When she arrived at the Head's compartment, she expected only to see Professor McGonagall waiting. To her surprise, Draco Malfoy sat opposite the head of the Gryffindor house. Hermione sat beside him, forcing herself as far to the wall as possible, as if sitting near Malfoy would give her a fatal disease.

"Professor Dumbeldore requires my assistance in his compartment, so I will make this very quick, " McGonagall began, "I assume that you both are aware that being Head Boy and Head Girl is an important role that should not be taken lightly. You are both to plan the Christmas ball this year and monitor the halls at night. Naturally, you both are to share a common room and you will both be partners for all of your classes throughout the year. Because both of you are taking the same classes, this should not be a problem." McGonagall looked at the seventh years and smiled. "I should be leaving now. I trust that there will be no problems," She said, looking at Hermione and then at Malfoy, who, at the moment, pretended to be very interested in the floor design. "Good. After the feast, Professor Snape will direct you to your new rooms." She stood and left, leaving Hermione and Draco alone in the silent cabin.

"Well I figure this to be an interesting year." Hermione said to Draco, looking up at his face. The deep gray orbs that were his eyes seemed empty and she felt as if they bore deep into her soul. The Hogwarts Express slowed to a stop and whistled, signaling that they were at their destination. "I guess I'll see you after the feast." Hermione said as she exited the compartment, leaving Draco alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"Quidditch tryouts next Saturday. Pass it on." Harry whispered to Ron as the sorting began. As the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Harry became even more obsessed with the game. Throughout the train ride to Hogwarts, he and Ron discussed their team and who the good candidates for the new beater and keeper. Ron and Harry agreed wholeheartedly that Ron should switch from the position of keeper to beater. As the message was passed along the large wooden table, Hermione sat between Ron and Ginny, ensnared in her thoughts.

'Why hadn't Malfoy said anything on the train?' She wondered to herself. She decided to put away the thoughts and pay attention to the Sorting Hat's new song. To her dismay, the old hat had already completed his song and professor Dumbledore had begun his speech. This easily bored Hermione, for it was the same every year. Soon, her eyes wandered around the room until they were captured by the same gray spheres that had haunted her earlier.

Draco Malfoy had been staring at her throughout the opening ceremony.

Hermione quickly looked away, pretending to be preoccupied with the enchanted ceiling. After counting twenty-three raindrops falling before disappearing, a delicious feast appeared before them and caused Hermione to forget about the two eyes that studied her from across the room.

* * *

After the delicious feast, Hermione stalked up to where Professor Snape sat. "Miss Granger," He began, "Allow me to escort you to your new room. Draco!" Draco Malfoy looked up from his plate of mashed potatoes at the professor and stood, not bothering to bid farewell to his fellow Slytherins. Malfoy slowly made his way up to Professor Snape as he continued, "Follow me."

Hermione and Draco trailed the professor past the dungeons and up to a large portrait of, surprisingly, Hermione and Draco. In the portrait, the two were standing facing away from each other, almost as if they were ignoring the other. Picture Hermione kept sneaking a glance at Picture Draco once in a while. Hermione guessed that the picture illustrated their current feelings toward one another.

"Password?" Picture Draco inquired, seeming not to care. Draco and Hermione looked questioningly upon each other, then at their professor.

"You may choose your own password." Professor Snape said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Draco and Hermione looked at one another, both thinking up a password.

"Socks." Draco said, as Picture Draco nodded and allowed them inside. Draco did not notice the quizzical looks from both his teacher and classmate. They all ventured into the heads' quarters to find a large common room equipped with large comfy sofas and a warm fireplace. The common room was connected to both a hallway and a study. In the study, they found their own small library that anyone would be proud of and a large desk fit for two. The hallway led to three doors; the left led to Draco's room, the right to Hermione's, and a large bathroom. The two bedrooms were identical, except that both were decorated by their own respective house colors. The rooms both had doors that also led to the bathroom that contained a large bath that could easily hold ten people.

"I assume that everything is in order," Snape said, noticing both students yawning profusely, "Headmaster Dumbledore requests that you meet him before breakfast tomorrow. You both will also need to hold a meeting with all of the prefects to discuss how the halls will be monitored. Good night." And with that, Professor Snape disappeared from the heads' quarters.

"Well, we both best be getting to sleep. Big day tomorrow," Said Hermione with another yawn. "Good night." She looked at Malfoy, expecting a reply. When she saw that he had nothing to say, she shrugged it off and they both retreated to their respective bedrooms.

Hermione laid in bed, reflecting on the day. Her last thought was that the only word that she heard Draco mutter all day was the word 'socks.'

* * *

A certain red-haired boy and a platinum blonde shared the same thought that night before falling into a deep sleep— 'Good night, Hermione.'

**A/N:** Please review. I want to know how to improve, how you think this story should go, and most importantly, if you liked it. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I've decided that I am going to stick with an updating system, so now I will be updating every Monday. Enjoy the chapter!

What A Lovely Way To Burn – Chapter 2

Hermione looked up from her large crimson four-poster bed at the door. From it, an aggravated knock filled her roomy bedroom. She dropped her head back into her soft pillow and prayed that the thumping was a figment of her dreams. "Granger!" A rushed voice yelled from the other side of the door, "Wake up!" Hermione only ignored Draco's call and sunk deeper into her mattress, covering her head with her warm comforter.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Draco's voice called from the hallway, and with that, he left the heads' quarters. 'She can rot, for all I care,' He thought to himself, only then to tell himself that he was lying. It suddenly occurred to him that he was being civil to Hermione. Almost… nice, even. He dismissed this thought from his mind and stopped at a mirror in the hall, replacing his expression with his famous smirk, then continued to the Great Hall.

Hermione sat up in exhaustion and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She immediately got dressed and hurried down to the Great Hall to join her friends for breakfast. "Where were you, 'Mione?" Ron inquired, biting into a piece of buttered toast. "We thought you were going to miss breakfast. He handed her a full plate of food and smiled, drilling her gorgeous image into his memory.

"Thanks Ron." Hermione said and smiled. She looked around at her fellow Gryffindors and thought to herself, 'What did I do to deserve such wonderful friends?' She pretended to listen intently on the conversation between Harry and Ron. Of course, it was about Quidditch.

"Can you believe that we were assigned double potions for the first day of school? How cliché is that?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, only to be responded by a laugh. Harry was glad to be back at school with his two best friends. He couldn't complain about his summer, though, for he spent most of it with the Order.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco was consumed in thought. 'It must be a phase,' He decided. 'I guess Granger isn't all that bad.' He then felt two arms wrap around his waist. An overpowering smell, you could almost say odor, enveloped his nostrils. "Pansy." He said without expression, "Get your filthy hands off of me and I just might buy you some decent perfume."

"Moody, aren't we, Drakie?" Pansy persisted. Draco did not respond to her unorthodox question, only stiffen his body. She mumbled resentment and retreated to find Blaise Zambini for a bit of fun. 'Draco will warm up to me,' She thought to herself, still not aware of Draco's resentment to her.

* * *

Hermione rushed down the corridor to Potions with Draco trailing not far behind. Scheduling the Prefect's meeting proved to be harder than Hermione thought. All of the houses' Quidditch captains seemed to have decided to begin practicing early this year.

A moment later, the blond and brunette burst, red-faced, into the classroom where they were greeted by an angry Snape. "Mr. Malfy, Miss Granger." He said slowly with a sneer, "Leave it to the Heads to be late. Ten points from Gryfindor." Hermione stalked to the left of the classroom where Ron and Harry had saved her seats. Draco made his way to the back of the class as Professor Snape began writing down ingredients on the board.

Twenty minutes into the class, as loud BANG! erupted from the center of the classroom. All Slytherins laughed at the sight of Neville Longbottom covered in a pale orange slime. As Neville began sneezing uncontrollably, all of the Gryffindors shook their heads. Draco Malfoy then said, "Such a lousy excuse for a wizard," just loud enough for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to hear. Within a second, both Harry and Ron were on top of Draco with Hermione trying her very best to hold them back.

Before Harry could get a good punch in, Professor Snape had bound the four of them with a flick of his wand. "Class dismissed," Snape said, his eyes on Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, kindly tell me why the two of you were hopelessly trying to smash Mr. Malfoy's head into a pulp."

"Mal-" Harry began.

"I don't care." Professor Snape said, cutting him off. "You, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Malfoy will report here for detention tomorrow night at 7:00."

"But Professor Snape!" Hermione objected, "It wasn't their fault!" Snape turned to her pleading face and smiled.

"Then you can join them too." He replied.

* * *

"Hey 'Mione, what are you doing on Saturday?" Harry asked before biting into a large red apple. Ron was complaining to Dean about detention and telling the story of how he had to clean bedpans without magic.

Hermione was concentrating on the large potions book in front of her. She had been ignoring her lunch plate and reviewing professor Snape's lesson. "What was that, Harry?" she asked without looking up from the book.

Harry laughed a bit to himself and reached across the wooden table and grabbed her book. "Why are you still studying? You're making us all look bad." He joked.

Hermione gave him a 'watch-it' look and said in a matter-of-factly tone, "I need to review the lesson! I don't want to get behind." She stood to grab her book, but Harry held it firmly, constantly smiling.

Hermione gave up and sat back down. Harry spoke to her again, but she didn't hear him. Her eyes were already captured by the captivating gray ones across the room. They looked as if he were trying to tell her something… but she could not tell. Harry's voice then brought her back to reality.

"'Mione? Yoo-Hoo… Earth to Hermione. Hermione, do you read?" Harry had received the attention of many other Gryffindors, some of which were giggling at her.

"What? Oh. Sorry, Harry… what were you saying?" Hermione asked, returning to reality. She looked up from Draco's gaze and a cold wave shot down her spine.

Harry looked at her, worried. "Are you feeling alright Hermione?" Harry paused to see her nod, then smiled. "I was asking if you would like to come to the Quidditch tryouts. It should be fun." Harry smiled, pleading.

"Of course I'll go Harry!" Hermione said before smiling fakely. When she was sure Harry was pleased, she turned her attention back to the Slytherin table, but he was gone.

* * *

'Why?' He asked himself as he looked longingly at her. 'Why was she looking at _him? _At _Malfoy._' He took a bite of his apple and sighed. He still loved her. He knew it, but tried not to admit it. 'It would ruin our friendship.' He thought. Harry was right- he can't deny his feelings. "But why does it have to be Hermione? Why not some other girl? Hermione is too beautiful… too smart… too…' He watched as Hermione turned her attention from Malfoy's empty chair to himself. 'If Malfoy does anything to her…' he thought.

"Are you alright Ron?" Hermione asked with a caring smile. How he loved that smile.

"Yeah, alright there mate?" Harry asked also.

Ron said, without removing his eyes from hers, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't worry, I'll have some very big things happening soon, I just need to develop the plot some more. Don't forget to review!


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